Bowie and a desensitised world

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Carlos-the-G's avatar
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David Bowie. I'm a big, big fan of the freaky ol' bastard.
I was watching a documentary on the birth and death of Bowie's alter ego, Ziggy Stardust and frankly, I was blown away. This guy was ballsy. He openly came out as gay in the early 70's, dressed his band and himself in totally outrageous clothing, pulled stunts that shocked the public and went against the grain of popular culture at the time. He knew how to push the envelope and his influence is still being felt and imitated today (Lady Gaga is basically a big Bowie rip-off).
He made art out of pop music. A fecking genius if I've ever seen one!

This got me thinking, are we still capable of being shocked and having culture changing icons? Are we still exploring new cultural ideas or are we just loitering around old ones? Do we hold anything sacred anymore?
Cultural ideals must continually be challenged in order to test their consistency and relevance, but short of endorsing death and torture, is there anything left that is challenging or avant garde?


I'm at a loss. 
© 2014 - 2024 Carlos-the-G
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sgtbuckwheat's avatar
The next big shift, I believe, will be when reality confronts relativism. Relativism challenged social norms held previously, so people who openly embraced it became icons of a sort. Relativism is the popular state of mind (at least the western world) right now. When something really challenges it that will produce a huge culture shift.